Where do I start?

Chris, please do yourself a favor and read a couple of guidebooks. Please note that Rick Steves promotes a specific way of travel (pack light, small hotels, etc.) that may not suit your style or interest. If that appeals to you, read his Europe Through the Back Door guide. If it doesn't find some other source of information. At this point, you don't really know what questions to ask. Get the passport started now. Second you need to know what interests you. All those places you mention are great, but you don't really have much time in 7-10 days to see more than a couple. Go to the menu on the left side of this page and go through the Travel Tips, especially the money part.

You might want to consider a tour - that takes care of much of the logistics for you. It certainly is daunting if you've never traveled there independently.

The good news is your starting with lots of time to plan your trip. Keep in mind that your reservations may start 9-6 months before you leave. I agree with PP, you need to decide if you want to do independent travel where you plan everything and book everything yourself or if you just want to do a tour, then you need to decide if you want a luxury tour or a style like Rick Steves where you get more immersed in the culture. Rick Steves is all about the experience of travel rather than the tick off the boxes-saw that type of travel. Most people on this board are independent and love to plan it all (ME!!).

You can't know how much time to plan in each place without doing some research. Start with "Europe through the back door" to wrap your brain around Europe in general, how trains work, the times it takes to actually get from one place to another (Fly, drive, train??) currency, open and close time of museums, the culture etc. Once you have read that move onto destination books, you may read your Germany book and decide that is all you have time for based on all the thing you want to see.

For basic trip planning I looked at a Rick Steves You Tube video on trip planning. He writes down all the places he wants to see, then assigns them days keeping in mind he may lose 1/2 a day traveling to the next place. This helps determine which places may not be possible. It's a really good method. He has some great videos on You tube on trip planning, check them out!

Taking a guided tour is a great way for first timers. Relax, see top sights and enjoy. If the RS tours are too pricey, there are many other more affordable tour companies to ck out. Send me a private message and I can suggest some. It really is a great option and saves aloyt of decision making and planning.

My question Is, where do I start?
Lets makes this real simple.

1. Hit the post office and get the passport forms and apply. Forms are also available on line.
2. Find the Rick Steves' travel program on you local PBS. And start watching his shows and any other shows you can find.
3. Hit the local public and pick up travel guidebooks and travel DVDs.

That is the soft part. Now for the hard parts ---

1. Decided you travel dates -- I would try for two weeks including starting and ends days so that you have about 10 to 12 good days on the ground in Europe. Count your nights, not days, when planning
2. Get map, hang it and put pins in where you mostly likely want to good. With 10/12 days it will be hard to see more than three or four different locations.
3. Select an entry and departure city - often called open jaws tickets or multi-city tickets. It almost always cheaper to do fly into one city and come home from another. Start watching airline fares so you can get a feel what is a good price on your route.

4. Check you credit cards and debits cards as to fees charged for usage in Europe. You may want to consider getting different cards if your fees are high - high fees are general 3 to 5% for using the cards and sometimes with debit cards an additional five dollars per transaction is added. There are cards that are nearly free to use in Europe. Check around

5. Now start planning you day to day. Return here with special questions and not ballpark questions like, "Where do I do in Europe?" The Rick Steves book, "Europe Through the Back Door." can be a good starting point. It is a good read.

6. You have a lot of homework to do so get started

Right here on this website you will find links to Rick's TV shows. Start with the three travel skills videos, then move on to Germany and the two Netherlands videos.

Do not worry about the one perfect plan. There are many wonderful ways to spend time in Europe. Get as much vacation time as you can, because the more research you do, the more you'll want to see. I recommend having a map at hand as you do your reading/viewing so that you can distinguish between what is possible and what really isn't practical on a short trip. Personally, I don't like the idea of having a flight in the middle of short vacation, so I'd try for a geographically-coherent itinerary that allows you to move around by train or bus.

As others have pointed out, you might find a tour that meets your needs. A good one will let you see more in a shorter period of time because the logistics are taken care of for you. The trade-off is that you give up some flexibility.

Yes, the TV shows are available to stream on this sight (see Watch, Read, Listen).

I'd also visit your local library and pick some general Europe travel books to start. I like Rick's "Europe Through the Back Door" as a general guide to how to approach European travel.

After you start narrowing your favorites, you can prioritize that into where you want to see first.

Whatever you do, don't forget about travel time. Travel shows seem to take only a second to transistion from say the Louvre to Versaille, but reality is you will spend a couple hours getting from one to the other (not counting lines for admission). 7-10 days isn't nearly enough time to see all of Europe (sometimes that doesn't seem to go without saying), so pick one city and plan a few days for a short loop in the area. Two cities, especially if they're the big ones London, Paris, Rome, is probably too much for one week and that's all you will have if ten days includes one travel day each way. Two smaller cities (e.g. Venice, Florence and some of Tuscany) will be possible but very busy. Remember you want some time to relax and enjoy too.

If money is no object and you really don't feel you can decide what you want to see, you can book a guided tour through a number of travel companies (one being Rick Steves). I find I save a lot and enjoy myself much more doing it on my own.

Another thing I would do is to order the Rick Steves tour catalog for 2017. It free and it might give you some good ideas.

I don't recommend you try and follow the same itineraries in the same time frames as the tours - they are usually to fast-paced for novice travelers. They work for tour companies because the guides and bus drivers have the experience!

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours

You are going to have a wonderful time doing this! And I agree-the more time you can take the better.

Agree with watching the RS videos, if you haven't already. At least the ones on Paris, Germany, and Amsterdam. See if some of the scenes give you that "I want to go THERE!," feeling. ( The Rhine cruise photos do that for me, but we haven't made it to Germany yet---still stuck in Italy).

And do not try to pack in everything that looks good to you---keep it a relaxed, compact trip. And save something for next time.

Ten nights with a taste of Germany on the Rhine.

Day
01. Arrive Amsterdam (3N)
02.03. Amsterdam
04. Train to Cologne (1N)
05. Train to Koblenz (2N)
06. Rhine cruise to Bacharach
07. Train via Mosel Valley & Trier to Paris (4N)
08.09.10. Paris
11. Depart Paris

Hi Chris, Happy Anniversary! A trip to Europe is a great way to celebrate.

For first timers I'd suggest a tour or a river cruise. Rick Steves tours are wonderful and give you the opportunity to see a lot and learn a lot in a short period of time. You will meet people from all over the US and Canada in a small group setting (26-28 people). There are group activities and time for just the two of you if that's what you want. There are several itineraries that include your target destinations - https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/germany-austria-switzerland. If you can figure out a way to stay a bit longer, the Germany, Austria, Switzerland tour is wonderful! Paris is always a good idea. Check out those tours too!

We are doing an 8-day Rhine River Cruise this year (Basel to Amsterdam) and that type of vacation might fit the bill for you.

You're smart to start the planning process now. Take time to explore all your options. Hope you have a great trip!

Chris, I can vouch that the Rick Steves Paris 7-day tour is a great tour and would work well for first-timers. You could start on a tour and then tack on a few days on your own by taking the train to the Netherlands or Alsace/Rhine area at the end of your trip (e.g. fly into Paris and then fly out from AMS or FRA). No, you don't have to take a tour, but it reduces the stress and helps you learn about public transit & rail in Europe.

In addition to the great advice others have given, also take a look at the tour alum scrapbooks on this website. It'll give you an idea of places you may want to visit. Have fun planning!

Suggest you start in Amsterdam or Frankfurt, smaller cities and more English spoken and a lot of nonstop flights from US. Paris is a bigger production all around but still many nonstop flights. A better place to fly home from. Since someone else is paying, get good flights!

Your choice to begin research now tells me you are interested in learning travel skills - independent travel is not a problem - even for novice travelers. You have started in the right direction and have received some excellent advice so far. The hardest part is to not overwhelm yourself with info & choices.

First decide the when - I would recommend keeping your travel dates to the "shoulder season" April, May, September, October - while they are more popular these days they are still not as crowded as the summer months.

I definitely agree - try to have 10 to 12 days there plus your 2 travel days. It is a long & costly way to travel for only 7 days - they will whiz by!

Decide what you want to experience - art, history, architecture, food - that can help narrow your destinations.

Foe many the planning is part of the journey. Keep asking questions - the folks here are happy to share their experience.

Hi,

To get an overview, go to the public library to the travel section, see the various guide books from which to choose. I recommend "The Rough Guide: Europe the First Time" As for destinations, I would recommend London to start off. I have a long time friend since college days who is/has been planning a trip of at least a month to Europe, a first timer. His three main destinations, top priorities are London, Berlin, Vienna. Other cities would be secondary.

With your itinerary, fly to Frankfurt. FRA, it is easy to navigate, well organised, etc.

Try your best to make the trip a long as you can. Jet lag can consume a whole day or so and this is a long flight and expensive trip. Ten days will fly by before you know it..it will literally feel like half of that. Definitely try to go for at least 10 full days on the ground, if not longer (7 days is too little IMHO).

Also, you don't need to "exchange" any money - just use an ATM for withdrawals and get a card that doesn't charge usurious fees You can use cash when you have to, and credit cards when you can (also get a credit card without any foreign exchange fees).

chris,

You're very lucky to have an employer that's providing tickets. Where do I sign up for that ;-)

As others have mentioned, your first step should be to read Europe Through The Back Door as that provides lots of great information on "how" to travel well in Europe. After that use the country or city-specific guidebooks to plan sightseeing, hotels, etc. in the places you'll be visiting. Again as suggested earlier, watching Rick's TV shows will provide lots of information - https://www.youtube.com/user/RickSteves

With only 7-10 days, you're going to be very limited in how much you can see, so an efficient Itinerary will be important. Is there any way you could get a few more days? Your profile doesn't indicate where you're located, but keep in mind that you will generally arrive in Europe the day after you depart your home airport, so you'll also need to plan for your two flight days.

You might consider using open-jaw flights so that you can start in one city and finish in another. Your list of destinations is a bit vague. Could you provide some clarification on what you most want to see? Two destinations with day trips would be ideal, but with 10 days you could probably fit three destinations into the Itinerary.

You don't need to have "money exchanged from US dollars to Euros." I'd suggest taking a small amount for travel funds (~€100 or so) and then using ATM's after that. Money and budgeting is covered in the book suggested above. You'll also have to cover a number of other topics such as using Money Belts, travelling with technology, medical insurance, transportation between locations, etc.

It's great that you're getting an early start in the planning, as that will allow lots of time to get all the details worked out.

Hi,

With the time limit you have, I would not recommend visiting more than three cities, be they all in Germany or including Amsterdam.